House marks up campus culture bills
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Thursday held a markup of 11 bills dealing with issues related to higher education, labor and healthcare policy. Five of the bills addressed campus culture issues directly. Most of the higher education bills were approved by the committee on party-line votes, though there was a smattering of Democratic support for some of them. In some cases, Democrats offered amendments to undo changes that had been made to previously bipartisan bills that made them more partisan in nature.
The higher education bills included:
- The Student Protection and University Accountability Act creates new requirements around colleges’ compliance with civil rights obligations, including designating a Title VI coordinator, publicly posting procedures for investigating and adjudicating civil rights complaints, establishing expedited timelines for complaint responses and new requirements around institutional recordkeeping for civil rights complaints.
- The No Antisemitism in Education Act reaffirms colleges’ obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to address instances of antisemitism on campus and requires the use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism in civil rights enforcement.
- The Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act prohibits Title IV-eligible institutions from engaging in “nonexpressive commercial boycotts” of a “major strategic partner.” This legislation is likely in response to individual cases of universities divesting from or no longer partnering with organizations associated with Israel. This bill drew the most Democratic support, including from the committee’s top Democrat Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia).
- The Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act amends the Higher Education Act (HEA) to provide protections for single-sex organizations on campuses, including sororities and fraternities. The marked-up version introduces new language defining sex in biological terms that Democrats tried to remove through an amendment that was voted down along party lines.
- The Equal Campus Access Act amends HEA to provide protections for religious or faith-based student organizations on campuses.
It is not yet clear when or if the package of bills will be considered by the full House. While some of the bills are based on legislation that previously received bipartisan support, the versions approved by the House committee will likely face an uphill battle in the Senate.
Democrats reintroduce bill to strengthen the Pell Grant
A bicameral group of congressional Democrats marked the 54th anniversary of the Pell Grant program by reintroducing the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act. The bill – sponsored by Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Patty Murray (D-Washington), Jack Reed (D-Rhode island) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) in the Senate and Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin) and Bobby Scott (D-Virginia) in the House – would increase the Pell Grant and secure the program’s long-term financial stability. Many of the bill’s provisions have long been supported by AACC.
The bill would:
- Increase the maximum Pell Grant to $10,000, with a path to eventually increase the grant to $15,000 and permanently index that amount to inflation.
- Shift funding for the Pell Grant program to 100% mandatory funding, eliminating concerns around shortfalls in the Pell Grant reserve fund during changes in student enrollment or Pell Grant participation. Currently, the program faces an estimated $17 billion shortfall in response to increases in participation and benefits associated with the FAFSA Simplification Act. Because the bulk of the program is currently funded through discretionary appropriations, this puts appropriators in a difficult position to stabilize the program without making changes to eligibility, amount or funding for other student aid programs.
- Allow undocumented DREAMers to receive Pell Grant awards.
- Fully fund the negative Student Aid Index (SAI) authorized in the FAFSA Simplification Act. This would allow students from the lowest-income families, including those receiving benefits through Medicaid and SNAP, to receive a larger maximum Pell Grant.
The bill also lengthens the Lifetime Eligibility Usage for students to 18 semesters and reform Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements to allow more students to return to higher education with grant support after a period of non-enrollment.
Supported by most of the House and Senate Democratic Caucuses, the bill represents a Democratic wish-list for the Pell Grant program and a preview of a proposal likely to be included in any future Democratic reconciliation legislation. In the meantime, community colleges continue to ask Congress to fund the Pell Grant shortfall and deliver a small increase to the Pell Grant maximum to account for inflation in FY 27 appropriations legislation.
Community college advocacy needed on Senate Farm Bill
Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Chair John Boozman (R-Arkansas) this week released his proposal to reauthorize the Farm Bill – the governing legislation for Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs.
While the most recent Farm Bill, the Agriculture Improvement Act, expired in 2023, several bipartisan and partisan reauthorization proposals have failed to advance over the past three years. In May, the House passed its reauthorization bill, the Food, Farm and National Security Act, teeing up a final opportunity for enactment in the 119th Congress.
Labeled as a “Discussion Draft,” the new Senate text is extremely minimal when it comes to new programs or policy changes compared to previous Senate iterations or versions introduced in the House. To AACC’s disappointment, the draft does not currently include a new grant program for community college agricultural and renewable resources programs or any changes to existing USDA workforce development or research programs that would increase community colleges’ ability to participate. Because the proposal is a discussion draft, AACC hopes that the committee will add in new support for community colleges during a markup.
The bipartisan Community College Agricultural Advancement Act (CCAAA) is a key proposal in this area. Long endorsed by AACC and recently reintroduced by Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) and John Husted (R-Ohio), the bill would authorize $20 million for new capacity-building grants for community college agriculture workforce development programs. A companion version of the legislation was introduced in the House by Reps. Trent Kelly (R-Mississippi) and Salud Carabajal (D-California). The CCAAA has been included in several previous Farm Bill reauthorization proposals. A provision inspired by the legislation was recently included in the House-approved Farm Bill.
AACC sees the 2026 Farm Bill as a key opportunity to deliver essential support for community college programs that build the agricultural workforce. We urge community colleges with agriculture or renewable resources programs to ask their senators to include the CCAAA, or a similar proposal, in the Farm Bill.
Court blocks ED definition of ‘professional degree’
A federal court has issued a preliminary injunction that blocks the Department of Education (ED) from enforcing a new definition of “professional degree” contained in regulations that implement new student loan caps on graduate and professional degree students. The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA), which these regulations implement, sets new annual and aggregate loan caps for these programs, with higher caps for professional programs. ED’s new definition, many argued, was too narrow, preventing students in programs that should be defined as “professional” from accessing higher student loan caps.
The court found that ED exceeded its statutory authority by adding new elements to a preexisting definition of “professional degree” that OBBA referred to explicitly. The new elements resulted in the narrower definition of “professional degree.”
What happens next is unclear. The regulations are to take effect on July 1. The court order does not stop the loan caps from going into effect, but ED would be required to use the pre-existing definition of “professional degree” in applying them, so potentially more students would qualify for the higher caps. ED could also appeal this decision and potentially obtain a stay on the injunction while the litigation proceeds.
DOL/ED grant reminders
The FY 26 Postsecondary Student Success Grants competition is open until June 29.
Upcoming AACC events
If you haven’t already, register for AACC’s annual Advocates in Action event in Washington, D.C., September 15-16. Space is limited.